The present invention relates to a cushioning element for mattresses, pillows and the like. In particular, it regards a cushioning element such as a slab for mattresses or pillows made of latex and employable in beds, sofas, etc.
It is known that cushioning elements, such as slabs for mattresses made of latex, are monolithic items having a plate-like conformation with a parallelepiped extension; the mattress has an upper surface to support a user's body and a lower surface adopted to rest on the bed frame.
These mattresses are manufactured using a raw material (latex) converted from a liquid state to a foamy state and successively converted to a solid state by vulcanization.
By virtue of the particular elastic properties of the mattress material, the latter conforms in shape with the user's shape and weight. In this way, the user's prominent and heavy body parts sink into the upper surface of the mattress in an attempt to keep the user's backbone in a correct horizontal posture.
Likewise, pillows are made with the same techniques used for mattresses and perform analogous tasks.
Indeed later pillows conform their shape to the user's skull separating also on the skull's weight, keeping the cervical vertebrae to a correct posture.
Pillows and mattresses having a series of dead holes at the respective lower and/or upper surfaces are also known.
These holes have a frustoconical conformation tapering inwardly of the mattress or pillow and allow to obtain a constantly increasing stiffness as the user's weight increases.
In addition, in order to define regions of greater density, i.e. mattress or pillow regions adapted to receive heavier weights (e.g. regions corresponding to the user's shoulders and pelvis), the overall holes' number or diameter is increased or decreased. In this way the cushioning and deformation capability of the upper surface in contact with the user is further improved.
The above described cushioning elements however have some drawbacks or operating problems.
Actually it is impossible to change the cushioning element's density as a function of the element thickness, depending on the user's weight.
Indeed, due to the conformation of said known holes, the density of the cushioning element cannot be varied in a discrete manner.
In particular, the known hole conformation which consists in tapering away from the user's support surface, only enables the density of the cushioning element to be increased in an incremental manner as the weight increases.
Consequently, owing to the user's weight the cushioning element has a tendency to assume excessive concavity sometimes causing an excessive sinking of the user's body thereinto.
Under this situation, the user could find himself/herself in a non optimal condition.